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Rating:  - Blu-Ray Box Set Design
I'd advise buying the box set and never opening it. Keep it for its novelty and future worth as a collector's item. Then buy each each title on Blu-ray DVD separately and watch those.
The big bulky jacket opens like a binder. The front cover swings open to the left, and the back cover swings open to the right. Once it's opened, you are presented with a graphical timeline based on the movie plots of the Ape adventures. (I'm fairly certain Ape Maniacs assisted the writers of the timeline, since the actual makers of the films weren't all that concerned if every detail made sense).
The front cover swings open again, as does the back cover -- so that, once the binder is completely opened, it spreads four panels wide. On the first panel on the left, there is a description of the special features on each disk. Also on this first panel, the DVD of "Planet" is mounted.
On the second panel, the DVDs for "Beneath" and "Escape" are mounted.
The third panel is where the book mounted. The book can be removed from the binder by slipping its back cover out of the binder's sleeve behind it. The book is rather interesting and made remarkable, I think, by its several behind-the-scenes photos.
On the fourth panel, "Conquest" and "Battle" are mounted.
The binder is made of sturdy cardboard. As stated, the DVDs are mounted on the inside covers. The mounts are little, clear rubber disks that are glued to the cardboard. Prying the DVDs off of these mounts risks tearing the mounts off the cardboard. Putting a DVD disk back on the rubber mount takes a little effort because, if you do not push the DVD onto the mount completely, the DVD will fall out of the binder. Plus the mounts are clear. The only way to ensure that the rubber mount is through the small hole in the center of the disk is by "feel."
Aside from the flawed design of the DVD mounts, the binder is a neat idea. The entire binder has its own sturdy cardboard slip case for safe keeping, though it's taller than the typical Blu-ray plastic jacket.
Each Blu-ray DVD title can be viewed with the option to watch a short introduction by The Lawgiver. The segments are computer animated and poorly executed and add nothing but an amusing "extra" to the viewing experience.
The closed-captions are the most accurate on these disks than those from prior versions. One example they've fixed:
DR. ZAIUS: (Tied up on the beach in POTA) The Forbidden Zone was once a paradise. Your GREED made a desert of it, ages ago.
They finally changed the word from GREED to the correct BREED.
But they still haven't fixed another of Dr. Zaius' lines in the first movie, during the scene in which Dr. Zira presents Taylor's talents to Zaius in her lab:
DR. ZAIUS: Besides, man is a nuisance. He eats up his food supplies in the forest, then migrates to our green BELTS and ravages our crops.
They need to change the word from BELTS to WELCH.
Rating:  - Blu-Ray quality review
This is a review of the quality of the Planet of the Apes [Blu-ray. The video looks good for a film as aged as this, but is not even close to stunning. The high def transfer in some cases actually serves to accentuate problems you might not have noticed otherwise. I saw more than a few soft scenes where they looked unfocused. Grain was never too obtrusive, but the colors were uneven through a good portion of the film. Some scenes were rich and vivid, and others washed out. My biggest problem is the sound. They present the sound here as a DTS 5.1 mix, and a mono mix. I chose DTS and was sorely dissapointed. My subwoofer never kicked on. That means that there was never an instance when there was a frequency lower than about 85hz. This made for a very shallow sounding mix. Adding to that, the surround speakers never seemed to register anything, and you've got what sounded to me like a mono mix anyway. All of the sound seemed to come from my center channel. To me, digitally remastering a film soundtrack at this level means accentuating the lower registries by adding lower frequencies, and placing atmospheric and musical elements in the surround channels. If you don't plan on doing that, what's the use of calling it a DTS 5.1 mix? Anyway, this is by far the best transfer I've ever seen of the film, but don't be looking for anything more than a slightly better than average transfer, and a glorified mono track.
Rating: - Blu-Ray Apes Still Pack Punch
All of these transfers look great in HD. I only bought the first and best film, but, I saw all the others via Netflix rental. The large box is not appealing to me. If I want a book, I'll buy it. I would've bought the set if they had put all 5 films in a nice regular type blu-ray case like the Blade Runner or Godfather collections, or even the slim line Matrix set. I felt the same way about the Dirty Harry collection. The box is too large to put next to my other blu-ray dvd's.
The original film looks great , and has all the extra docs and a few new ones in HD.
'Conquest' has the theatrical cut and the international (better) version with more violence and the original ending left intact.
'Battle' also has 2 versions (one extended cut with a few deleted scenes restored and scene extends, usually 20-30 seconds each).
If you've loved these films like I have then you'll want them all. I'll buy the others individually either used or on sale, or hopefully, in a newly designed smaller case.
Rating: - I feel like I'm 9 years old again!
Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection [Blu-ray]This box set is awesome! If you love and appreciate these movies as I do-get this set!For my Ninth birthday I was given the choice of a new bike or go see the "Go Ape" marathon with some friends at the local cinema. I opted for the movies and haven't regretted that decision to this day. The unrated version of "Conquest" is better than the theatrical one.The new documentaries and interactive pressbooks are cool as well as the "bonusview" feature.Apes fans will not be disappointed!
Rating: - GREAT
This is a beautiful set. The blu-ray transfers look and sound great. I was going to buy this off Amazon but Best Buy has it at the same price. It's a little pricey but if you are a fan of the movies it's worth it. Really nice book included. Very well done.
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